Julia Skyes
Q: Can you talk about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected you as an artist?
When everything first started happening mid March, I went through a few stages. The first week was intense anxiety. There was one day I only slept four hours (which is not normal for me personally.) I was amped up with this really nervous energy. I was nervous about not being able to pay my bills but also about getting out of shape dance-wise. Because I’m usually so regimented, my schedule being thrown off really threw me for a loop. I had super irrational thoughts that I was going to get completely out of shape and was going to lose all my years of training, which is insane! So the first week of quarantine, I worked out like a maniac. I wasn’t even dancing, I was doing two a day HIIT cardio workouts, and it was crazy. My body was exhausted and it was not even healthy. I knew I was going to hurt something, and towards the end of that week, I calmed down and everything kind of settled. I thought to myself, “Okay. The only thing you really need to dance is your body. A studio, marley floors, mirrors, and a sound system is great, but all you need at the end of the day is your body”. Once I realized that, I knew I was going to be okay.
Julia began training at the age of nine, studying ballet, modern, tap, lyrical, and jazz. After high school, she went on to earn her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree in dance from Long Island University, Brooklyn campus. In New York she had the opportunity to learn and perform choreography by various world renowned choreographers, including Ron K. Brown, Bill T. Jones, Jennifer Muller, Nathan Trice, and Twyla Tharp, among others. In the summer of 2014, she joined the dance team for the Mets Affiliated baseball team, The Brooklyn Cyclones. Upon moving back to her native Massachusetts, Julia began teaching at Center Stage Dance Academy (Plymouth MA) as well as for the DEA Youth Dance program. She began dancing with various companies and choreographers in the area, including Adrienne Hawkins, and performs regularly at venues in the greater Boston and South Shore area, and with companies including Rainbow Tribe, Project 31 and Mystique Illusions Dance Theater. In 2018, Julia was one of the featured performers for the Raw Artists Boston show, where she performed a self choreographed work. She also guest teaches at local dance centers such as Green Street Studios and the Dance Complex.